Raymond V. Mariano: Trump criminal trials should be televised

Donald Trump has been criminally indicted in New York and there are likely other indictments to follow. The indictment of a former president is an historic step that every American should take seriously.

Whether you are a rabid supporter of the ex-president or someone who wants to see him in a prison uniform, what should matter more is that any trial is conducted fairly and that a just verdict is reached.

And we should be able to judge that for ourselves without political spin. Unfortunately, as it stands now, that won’t happen.

New York indictment

In the state of New York, cameras are often prohibited from the courtroom. That means that we will have to get reports about the trial in bits and pieces from the news media. And no matter how hard they try, reporters will only be able to give us their interpretation of what was important and how evidence was presented.

I’m not good with that.

I watched and listened to reports of the initial indictment proceedings. But even after multiple hours of listening to news reports and commentary, I was left wishing that I had seen the proceedings myself.

Whatever the media tells us will not be in the complete context of the court proceedings. Only a start-to-finish video record can do that.

I trust the news sources that I rely on. But I don’t want them interpreting anything this important for me. I want to know all of it. I want to hear the evidence and the witness testimony. I want to see the exhibits and listen to the objections by the lawyers. I also want to hear the decisions made by the judge and then hear his instructions to the jury before they start their deliberations.

Whatever a judge or jury decides, the decision will be controversial. But if we can see the proceedings for ourselves - unfiltered - perhaps the majority of us will accept the results.

We have conservative-leaning newspapers and liberal-leaning papers. We have Fox News and other news opinion shows on the right and MSNBC, CNN and others on the left.

How about we let them say or do whatever they are inclined to do while the rest of us watches the trial for ourselves.

Fox News opinion show hosts knowingly lied and allowed others to lie about Dominion voting machines. Now, they are getting their heads chopped off by multiple defamation law suits that could end up costing them more than a billion dollars. The last thing I want to see is the same admitted liars fabricating and twisting the facts.

My Republican friends - and I still have a couple left - would say the same thing about The New York Times or CNN. Fair enough. Let’s grab some popcorn and watch the proceeding together.

It’s not like allowing cameras in the courtroom is a novel idea. About 35 states routinely allow cameras in their courtrooms and Massachusetts has been allowing them for decades.

Georgia and Washington, D.C.

Potential criminal indictments in Georgia and those being reviewed by Special Counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C. may soon follow. If additional indictments are brought, those proceedings must be conducted in full view of the American people. I don’t need Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow telling me what happened. I want to hear every word for myself.

I used to love listening to Johnny Most announce the Boston Celtics games. He was totally biased and we all loved him for it. But these trials are not sports and we need to have confidence that we get the truth - without political spin or interpretation.

I don’t need to see Trump being booked or fingerprinted. But everything that happens inside the courtroom is historic in nature and I want to see all of it.

I realize that televising the court proceedings may turn the trial into a bit of a spectacle - that was going to happen anyway. But there is no other way to provide the American people with an unvarnished look at all of the evidence and testimony.

Trump says that he’s innocent and that his indictment is a political witch hunt. Then why are his lawyers afraid to have the court proceedings televised? If there was no crime committed, let us see for ourselves. The evidence will tell the story.

This is not the time for Americans to be repeating talking points being put out by either political party. This is one of those times when Americans need to decide for themselves.

In the New York case, the judge was right when he said “this indictment involves a matter of monumental significance … the populace rightly hungers for the most accurate and current information available.” But he was wrong when he refused to allow video cameras in the courtroom.

Our justice system serves the people best when it stands in the sunlight - so let the sunshine in.

One more thing

Recently, in the E. Jean Carroll defamation and battery lawsuit, Trump and his lawyers sought to require prospective jurors to give their names, their employment and the employment of all of their immediate family members. The judge quickly denied the request.

Trump’s request was a disgraceful attempt to influence prospective jurors that would place them in real danger. No reasonable person should doubt that once Trump got his hands on this information that it would find its way into the public domain followed by an avalanche of threats or worse.

More than any time in our nation’s history, our legal system will be tested. It must not falter.

Email Raymond V. Mariano at rmariano.telegram@gmail.com. He served four terms as mayor of Worcester and previously served on the City Council and School Committee. He grew up in Great Brook Valley and holds degrees from Worcester State College and Clark University. He was most recently executive director of the Worcester Housing Authority. His column appears weekly in the Sunday Telegram.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Raymond Mariano on why Trump criminal trials should be televised